Brown Bess flintlock musket

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

The “Brown Bess” flintlock musket was the standard weapon of the British soldier for over one hundred years. Its official name was the “Short Land Pattern.” Most American gunsmiths during the American Revolution (1775-1783) patterned their flintlock muskets after the Brown Bess. Muskets with smoothbore barrels were easier to load but less accurate than rifled weapons, and the military strategy of the period reflected this. Groups of men massed tightly together fired a shower of lead balls at the enemy. For charges and fighting at close quarters, soldiers fixed deadly, spear-like bayonets to the ends of their muskets. The original owner of this musket carved the initials “R.D.” into the stock. John Fellows (1751-1831) of Shelburne, Massachusetts, added his own initials after he picked up the musket from the battlefield following the defeat of General John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga, New York, in 1777.

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Details

Item typeWeapons
Firearm
Date1768
PlaceShelburne, Massachusetts
TopicMilitary, Wars, Battles
EraRevolutionary America, 1763–1783
EventAmerican Revolution. 1775–1783
MaterialMetal; Wood
Process/FormatMetalworking
Dimension detailsBarrel: 42.00 in Stock: 16.25 in Bayonet: 21.00 in
Catalog #1882.081
View this item in our curatorial database →
Brown Bess flintlock musket. 1768. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1882-081/. Accessed on December 7, 2024.

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